Stories From the Center of the World : New Middle East Fiction

One of The Millions Most Anticipated Books for Spring! Featured in Alta Magazine's Top Books for May! Short stories from 25 emerging and established writers of Middle Eastern and North African origins, a unique collection of voices and viewpoints that illuminate life in the global Arab/Muslim world. "Provocative and subtle, nuanced and surprising, these stories demonstrate how this complicated and rich region might best be approached—through the power of literature."—Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Committed Stories from the Center of the World gathers new writing from the greater Middle East (or SWANA), a vast region that stretches from Southwest Asia, through the Middle East and Turkey, and across Northern Africa. The 25 authors included here come from a wide range of cultures and countries, including Palestine, Syria, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, and Morocco, to...M.F One of The Millions Most Anticipated Books for Spring!Featured in Alta Magazine's Top Books for May!Short stories from 25 emerging and established writers of Middle Eastern and North African origins, a unique collection of voices and viewpoints that illuminate life in the global Arab/Muslim world.'Provocative and subtle, nuanced and surprising, these stories demonstrate how this complicated and rich region might best be approached—through the power of literature.'—Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The CommittedStories from the Center of the World gathers new writing from the greater Middle East (or SWANA), a vast region that stretches from Southwest Asia, through the Middle East and Turkey, and across Northern Africa. The 25 authors included here come from a wide range of cultures and countries, including Palestine, Syria, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, and Morocco, to name some.In “Asha and Haaji,” Hanif Kureishi takes up the cause of outsiders who become uprooted when war or disaster strikes and they flee for safe haven. In Nektaria Anastasiadou's “The Location of the Soul According to Benyamin Alhadeff,” two students in Istanbul from different classes — and religions that have often been at odds with one another — believe they can overcome all obstacles. MK Harb's story, “Counter Strike,” is about queer love among Beiruti adolescents; and Salar Abdoh's “The Long Walk of the Martyrs” invites us into the world of former militants, fighters who fought ISIS or Daesh in Iraq and Syria, who are having a hard time readjusting to civilian life. In “Eleazar,” Karim Kattan tells an unexpected Palestinian story in which the usual antagonists — Israeli occupation forces — are mostly absent, while another malevolent force seems to overtake an unsuspecting family. Omar El Akkad's “The Icarist” is a coming-of-age story about the underworld in which illegal immigrants are forced to live, and what happens when one dares to break away. Contributors include: Salar Abdoh, Leila Aboulela, Farah Ahamed, Omar El Akkad, Sarah AlKahly-Mills, Nektaria Anastasiadou, Amany Kamal Eldin, Jordan Elgrably, Omar Foda, May Haddad, Danial Haghighi, Malu Halasa, MK Harb, Alireza Iranmehr, Karim Kattan, Hanif Kureishi, Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi, Diary Marif, Tariq Mehmood, Sahar Mustafah, Mohammed Al-Naas, Ahmed Naji, Mai Al-Nakib, Abdellah Taia, and Natasha Tynes Short stories from 25 emerging and established writers of Middle Eastern and North African origins, a unique collection of voices and viewpoints that illuminate life in the global Arab/Muslim world. For much of the 20th and 21st centuries, the region known as the Greater Middle East has faced colonization, war and occupation, while its people have been misrepresented and its literature relegated to oblivion by a Eurocentric culture industry. Emigrant communities are also frequently misunderstood, even as they attempt to adapt and melt into the fabric of new countries and languages. Now, in this potent anthology with more than its share of surprises, over two dozen writers with roots in the region, men and women, both native and in diaspora, insiders and outsiders, assert their narrative power. Moving from the margins to the markaz , or center a word and a concept shared among languages of the region, including Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, and Urdu they occupy and create a collective worldview. Selected from among a wave of new fiction published in The Markaz Review between 2020 and 2023, this best of collection features authors with roots in Egypt, Greece, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Pakistan and Sudan, to name just some places. In Raise Your Head High, Khartoum-born novelist Leila Aboulela writes of a rift between sisters that may only be healed by their solidarity during the Arab Spring.; in Counter Strike, MK Harb tells a queer coming-of-age story set in Lebanon; in Eleazar, Karim Kattan crafts a tale about a Palestinian family that mysteriously disintegrates. These stories, and these authors, will be new to many readers, now collected and published in English for the first time. Contributors include : Salar Abdoh, Leila Aboulela, Farah Ahamed, Omar El Akkad, Sarah AlKahly-Mills, Nektaria Anastasiadou, Amany Kamal Eldin, Jordan Elgrably, May Haddad, Malu Halasa, Mohamad Khalil (MK) Harb, Alireza Iranmehr, Karim Kattan, Hanif Kureshi, Sahar Mustafah, Ahmed Naji, Mai Al-Nakib and Natasha Tynes.